Lego....

[humby248]

So thats why every set seems to have all the figures apart from C3P0! I have been after one for ages but they always seem to go for around £20. I am not being a tightwad but it is not for a collection only for Little Humby to play with. He has 2 K3P0s so I was contemplating customizing one of those.
So whats the deal with the action figures then. Figures like blue Snaggletooth and Yak Face were not produced in large quantities but why not? Little Humby would like a Darth Revan but this is one that seems to have been produced in lower quantities. I am not going to spend £30 for one figure, especially when the card is going to get ripped open

[Thundershot]

Hi Humby,
The original blue Snaggletooth was a mistake by Kenner, they only had a photo of him cut in 1/2 to work from, & they stopped producing it as soon as they could, but a catalogue company had already ordered & shipped a lot out as part of a gift set....Yak Face was going to be a mail in special offer figure for the states, but the offer didn't go ahead, so only Europe & Canada got the figure released as a carded product.
I think it's a case of the American going mad for Yak...as he doesn't seem as rare as the high prices suggest.

I've no idea why some of the modern Hasbro Star Wars figures are rarer than others...I've heard of short packing, where a carton of figures come in an odd number, leaving a shortage of certain figures, like say 5 to a box with 2 lukes, 2 hans but only 1 stormtrooper ( Just making the numbers up here, Dave Tree would know better when it comes to trade boxes!)

Some times if a line doesn't sell very well, or the the fist series is over produced, the second wave will be produced in much lower volumes as well, I think that's why some of the later Episode One figures are harder to find then others?

[humby248]

For all its faults I think that ebay has made these rarer figures more accessible. Before it came about you could only really find them at toy fairs for quite high prices. This also works both ways though. While the rarer figues seem to have got slightly cheaper I bet some peoples early valuations of their collections has also depreciated.
So the evidence suggest then that the rarer figures became rare purely by chance. So why are some of the newer ones like Darth Revan difficult to come by or have Hasbro not learnt their lesson from previous mistakes?

[Thundershot]

Yeah, we complain about ebay, but I wouldn't have 1/2 of my Joe collection without it, but I'd be a lot better off financialy without it!

[The Baron]

Humby, try Bricklink for C-3P0: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?M=sw010

I've also been very impressed with http://www.lego.com - often when I buy a 2nd hand kit there is a piece missing that can't be found elsewhere (Princess Leia's torso for example), every time I write and ask for a piece they have sent me it for free.

I so want the 30th Anniversary chrome fig...

[Dave Tree]

For all its faults I think that ebay has made these rarer figures more accessible. Before it came about you could only really find them at toy fairs for quite high prices. This also works both ways though. While the rarer figues seem to have got slightly cheaper I bet some peoples early valuations of their collections has also depreciated.
So the evidence suggest then that the rarer figures became rare purely by chance. So why are some of the newer ones like Darth Revan difficult to come by or have Hasbro not learnt their lesson from previous mistakes?

Assortment and quantities from Hasbro vary usually due to when they come out during lifetime of the wave. For example every January in the UK, all highstreet retailers take on the latest waves of Star Wars, they stock them for 5-6 months and then stop as they are not selling and then discount them to clear stock, in the meantime the UK misses out on half of what is produced at general retail. They do this more or less every year. This also happens to a certain extent in the US, as the retail buyers are looking for the 'next big thing' rather than fulfilling current demand (A good example of this is Jungle Fury Power Rangers, it is the number one selling action figure in the UK this year, however when Power Ranger RPM is launched in December, retailers will drop Jungle Fury like a stone, even though it has been their highest selling product range in volume for 2009).

Reven & Malak were already in high demand as they were the winners of 'fans poll choice' and were short packed in the cases. Combine that with falling retail presence and the demand outstrips the supply.
The current figure to be doing this now is the Legacy grey Ugnaught which is in a revised case in Wave 9 - most retailers will only order once per wave and rarely will they order the same wave again if there is less than 25% of new figures - in the 9.1 wave only the Ugnaught is the new figure out of 12. If they have ordered 144 figures already, they will be VERY reluctant to order anothe 144 for just 12 new figures.

New Legacy figures have failed to reach the UK highstreets since about June, so lack of product + short packed reivsed waves + investment needed to buy from a non European Supplier, import and pay VAT = very few retailers being arsed to do so

As for Lego C3PO, well, he is currently available in the exclusive Tantive IV playset at around £105. Although expensive it is beautiful set and comes with Leia, R2, Rebel Trooper and an exclusive Captian Antillies. Now all you have to do is find a retailer who might have one *cough*

Dave.

[Chopper]

Yeah, we complain about ebay, but I wouldn't have 1/2 of my Joe collection without it, but I'd be a lot better off financialy without it!

I'd say that would be true of all of us, Ed. My son has a couple of figures that are probably worth $40au or more and he's opened them too. However the only reason that happened is they were bought cheap off ebay, less than half their value. I had a nice Vader with coin from the Coin collector book. Little bugger tore him open while I wasn't looking. Ah well, its Star Wars so I can understand that. Only 2 MOC SW's left now.

[The Baron]

May as well save yourself the agonising and open them yourself, mate.

[Chopper]

May as well save yourself the agonising and open them yourself, mate.

To be fair, we both learned something. Me, not to leave figures that are essentially in his collection in his room, next to his bed and him, not to open what I tell him not to open. He was really upset after he did it too, he said his brain told him to do it. Which is fair enough I suppose. If I were 5 mine would too. Not is just screams "DON'T OPEN MOC".

Now my minty MOC's are in my study. Both of them

Speaking of which, do you open the Lego, Baron? Or is it all minty boxed?

[The Baron]

I open them all! I still have my Zoids and Lego boxes, but sadly not the Action Force.